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Ansgar

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Ansgar, Anskar or Oscar, (801-865), Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, was born 801 in Amiens. The see of Hamburg was designated a 'Mission to bring Christianity to the North', and Ansgar became known as the "Apostle of the North".

Ansgar had for a period resided with the baptized Danish king Harald Klak and when Louis the Pious at the Diet of Worms in 829 was requested by two representatives from Sweden, he appointed Ansgar missionary. The representatives had claimed that the several Swedes were willing to convert to Christendom. Ansgar arrived at "Birka" in 829, with his aide friar Witmar, and a small congregation was formed in 831, which included the kings own steward Hergeir, as the most prominent member.

He died 865 in Bremen. His life story was written by his successor as archbishop, Rimbert, in Vita Ansgari.

A beautiful statue dedicated to him stands in Hamburg as well as a stone cross at Birka.

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